American Society of Transplantation to Host Boston Pops and the Redford Family on May 30th to Raise Transplant Awareness

BOSTON, March 16 - /PRNewswire/ -- About 18 people die each day awaiting an organ transplant, but by raising awareness, the American Society of Transplantation (AST) hopes to lower this number. AST, a society dedicated to research, education and patient care in transplantation, is hosting Share the Beat, an inspirational evening of music and personal stories to benefit organ donation awareness and transplant research. Share the Beat, which premieres May 30, 2009, at Boston's Symphony Hall, will feature the Boston Pops with special guest appearances by liver recipient, James Redford and his father Robert Redford.

Share the Beat celebrates the hope in transplantation through music, inspiration and awareness. Composer John Williams, winner of multiple Academy Awards and Grammys, will conduct the Boston Pops. The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies recently enlisted Williams to compose a new work that was played by cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Itzhak Perlman, pianist Gabriels Montero and Clarinetist Anthony McGill.

Previous Share the Beat celebrations have been held in Atlanta; Omaha, Neb.; Sundance and Provo, Utah; and Los Angeles. Through the years, a committed group of performers have donated their time to Share the Beat. Friends and supporters include: Tim McGraw, Phil Vassar, Bo Bice, James Denton, Mariska Hargitay, Katherine Heigl, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

"This is a wonderful opportunity for the community to enjoy the music of the Boston Pops and to be inspired by the personal stories of those whose lives were affected by transplantation," said Barbara Murphy, M.D., AST's President. "In fact, James Redford, who founded Share the Beat, received a liver transplant in 1993 after suffering complications from ulcerative colitis and the Redford family remains committed to increasing transplant awareness," added Murphy.

Reserve Tickets Now

Tickets for Share the Beat are available at http://www.sharethebeat.org. The event begins at 8:00 p.m. on May 30, 2009 at Symphony Hall, located at 301 Massachusetts, Ave. in Boston. Proceeds will benefit the AST endowment, created to support in perpetuity the AST research grant portfolio, the training of transplant fellows and consensus conferences, and the Redford AnimAction Project, an educational outreach program for youth.

About AST

AST is an organization of transplant professionals dedicated to research, education, advocacy and patient care in transplantation science and medicine. The society comprises more than 2,800 transplant physicians, surgeons, scientists and allied health professionals. For more information. Visit http://www.a-s-t.org.

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